Secrets behind: how to look Good

Extremely confident and decisive about his style, Suhrid Jyoti starts with a joke that he is the style guru amongst his close friends. His sense of style is mostly derived from popular culture, movies and his hobbies. With an inconsistent fitness regime, which he subtly blames on his wife’s erratic habits, he is always learning new skills or sports because of which he changes his hobbies. He also loves taking on his brother in basketball and the occasional futsal game. However, having stopped eating processed food and refined sugar for the past six months; his six-pack is permanently in shape. He recommends everyone to do the same in order to stay healthy and light.

Suhrid also is assured in his choice of clothing. With very few articles of different styles such as casual, formal and sporty, he focuses more on quality and how well the clothes fit. Most of his shirts are white and blue while his pants are jeans with a few chinos. He prefers navy blue suits and likes to stick to his choices like his black leather jacket, which he got made for just Rs. 3000 about fifteen years ago. In this instance, Suhrid also compliments his wife for her fashion advice which he fully relies on and believes has never steered him in the wrong direction. Being a family man, Suhrid also enjoys the attention of his three-year- old son. He makes sure to savor every moment with him as he knows that his son’s view of his father being ‘cool’ will soon fade away with time.

Though irregular, his workout habits also help him keep up with his son. Suhrid thinks it’s important for him to enjoy the physical activity which suits his mood and form. However, he really believes that a good eating habit and diet that comprises of natural and healthy foods in reasonable proportions is the best way to keep fit. He also advises that one should use the information on the internet wisely while searching for diet ideas and weight loss schemes. Though, he loves shopping on the internet; Suhrid warns people to check the sources as there is a lot of wrong information out there.

Prashant Tamrakar

Standing tall at 6'1'' Prashant Tamrakar’s biggest woe is the difficulty of getting clothes to fit his big size around here, which has led him to become his own style guru. He needs to wear what suits him rather than what he sees in the magazines. He loves shopping at Primark (UK) and Banana Republic (USA) because they have clothes in all sizes and he doesn’t have to compromise his choice over the availability of sizes. In Nepal he tends to go for Lee. However, he prefers to wear clothes that are made in Nepal using traditional material that are easily available here. This was highlighted when he revealed that the tee-shirt he was wearing was made out of bamboo woven with cotton. “Whenever I come back from abroad, my suitcase is full of shoes, socks and undergarments,” he says with his customary booming laugh, emphasizing again on how hard it is to find clothes that fit him. When asked what he does to stay fit, he talks about his regular routine where he wakes up early and plays badminton and will occasionally go cycling as well. He is on a strict diet these days because he claims that the recent earthquake came bearing gifts for him: he gained 15 kilos in a month. Now, even though he loves to eat spaghetti with meat sauce and sandwiches and is learning how to cook because he loves to eat so much, he is on a strict vegetarian diet he got from Healthy Homes. He dreams of ultimately sporting abs, claiming to be sick of having a ‘family pack’ and needing to separate the family into different rooms.

His very important fitness rules are to sleep on time and to wake up early, to have a balanced diet consisting of healthy food and the most importantly, to keep smiling. He is most comfortable when he wears shorts, a tee-shirt and chappals to go with his backpack, cap and sunglasses. He thinks that even if he gets stranded on an island and can only have five things, he counts shorts, chappals and a tee-shirt as bare necessities with the addition of a jumper and a windcheater in case it gets cold. He deems his best find to be a pathan dress mixed with Dhaka and a Dhaka waistcoat, mostly because it’s infused with Nepali fabric and people appreciate it whenever he wears them. He feels a very different kind of energy surrounding him every time he wears traditional clothes which leaves him with an amazing feeling. He insists that we should not let western culture dictate our fashion choices for we have a culture rich with extraordinary heritage.

Sneh Rana

The first thing I notice when I meet Sneh Rana is how young she looks and how well she has maintained herself. She says, “Your skin is your biggest investment.” When we got to think about it, it really is. Even if you want to put on makeup to cover up some imperfections, the canvas i.e your skin, needs to be good. One might wonder what she does in order to have flawless skin.

Rana let us in on her secrets. She tries to works out for an hour every day, alternating between cardio and strength training. She reveals, “The potassium rich banana with a whole wheat toast is the best pre-workout meal, and a fruit based platter post-workout gives enough energy to keep you going throughout the day.” She believes that all diets are fads and that we should eat what agrees with us and that if we have a balanced diet with carbohydrates, fats, protein and fresh greens at home, we will never need to count the calories when we are eating outside. Her Number one fitness rule is to be motivated to live a healthy lifestyle in a world dominated by adulterated food. “Fitness is 20% exercise and the rest of the 80% is defined by what goes down your esophagus,” she explains.

Sneh believes that style is an expression of individualism mixed with charisma, therefore every woman has some kind of style, which is also why she doesn’t have any particular style guru. “Victoria Beckham’s sense of originality in style is absolutely breathtaking,” she exclaims and adds, ”People should wear clothes based on their body type and not just because they think a particular outfit looks really good on that one model in the magazine,” Her biggest pet peeve is seeing people with unflattering legs wearing short dresses. She herself loves to dress in casuals which she feels defines her casual personality but has a special love for her black jumpsuit that she loves to mix and match with different accessories. Though Sneh loves all the colors, the most dominant color in her wardrobe is black and reveals that she loves to shop in New Delhi as it’s close to home and caters to all kinds of shopping needs, from high end to street shopping.

Sushil Shrestha

With his quietly commanding presence in any room he walks into, Sushil Shrestha looks classy yet casual in his semi-formal attire. Towering over most people at 6’2”, he is very soft spoken and witty. His number one fitness rule is to never skip gym; ever. He works out for two hours every day, waking up at five in the morning. He flexes for about half an hour and spends the rest of the time lifting weights. He has an ever changing workout complimentary diet which right now consists of milk and eggs before working out as it gives him the energy that he needs.

Even though he is extremely health conscious, there is one thing he cannot resist: chocolate cakes. He makes one laugh when he explained that even though he knows the cake isn’t good for his health, he is heavily tempted to just dig in as soon as he sees a chocolate cake.

With Sabir Peele to provide plenty of inspiration, Sushil loves to shop in Mumbai. Andheri East and the Phoenix Mall are two of his very favorite shopping destinations. He loves to dress in a way that shows people that even though he is laidback, he still means business. His wardrobe is full of coats and jackets with the most prominent color in his collection being white. He thinks David Beckham is the most stylish person ever, “The dude never gives a miss in his dress up,” he says. He loves to wear ties and cufflinks when he is in an official event because it makes him feel extra special.

When asked what five things he’d grab from his closet if he ever got stranded on an island, his answer: four towels and a boxer. He was hasty to change his answer to two towels, two boxers and a jacket when reminded that he would probably freeze to death before he got to use his four towels. He went on to add that if he was alone on the island he wouldn’t need any clothes anyway!

Very imaginative as a child, Sushil cooked up a story about being kidnapped and fed it to his teachers so he wouldn’t get punished for not doing his vacation homework. His parents obviously knew he was lying and he remembers this incident as one of the funniest moments of his childhood. Growing up, he thinks he hasn’t changed much and likes to have a good time with his old friends. He has an event management company that he plans to continue building and has no immediate plans for retiring from his modeling and acting career. He enjoys this wave too much to not ride it out till the end.

Akesha Bista

Considering herself to be her own style guru, Akesha Bista styles her own attire. A total shopaholic, Akesha does not have a favorite store where she prefers to buy her clothes but goes wherever she finds something of her liking or anything attractive. But if she had to choose a specific shop to go shopping, it would be Lipsy Collection at Bhat Bhateni. Akesha likes it simple and jeans are her favorite and define her style.

Being a momo lover, she often ends up eating momos three times a day. Without a fitness routine and diet to follow, Akesha only avoids certain foods because of their taste and not for health reasons. She is aware that eating a lot of momos will make her gain weight but the temptation is too much. She is also a sucker for sweets and when asked to design a style based on one of her favorite foods, she would dump the momos and base her design on the different shapes of sweets.

Akesha thinks that designing something based on momos would just be awkward like the times when she used to walk on heels even when she was not yet comfortable in them. She ignored her mother’s advice to wear something comfortable and now boasts that she can even run in her heels if the need should arise. However, she can’t bear to watch girls trying to walk in heels when they are not comfortable at all. Another fashion faux she can’t understand is people wearing gym clothes in public.

One thing she would find intolerable is living without her phone. When asked which five things she would take if stranded on an island, she picks her cell phone, running shoes and three pairs of clothes as she hates wearing the same clothing for a long time. This is the reason she has all kinds of clothes in her wardrobe. Being a shopaholic, Akesha will buy anything that catches her eyes. She however, looks up to Priyanka Chopra for dressing style and also for her acting skills.

Asked about tips and advice to keep fit and healthy, her simple answer is water. Akesha also never forgets to apply glycerin and rose water on her face before sleeping. She also thinks that the body of each person is different and the amount of exercise and fitness regimes one needs vary from person to person.

Malvika subba

One of the prominent faces in the Nepal fashion industry, Malvika Subba flips through national and international magazines to keep up to date with the current fashion trends. With no style guru to mold her style, she relies on these magazines for inspiration and takes bits and pieces for her wardrobe and creates her own unique style. She loves to stand out and wrinkles her nose when she comments on how every store in Kathmandu displays a variation of the same style that is trending in the valley. That makes it extremely difficult for her to make her own personal style statement and feels it is her biggest fashion pet peeves. She is a very regular shopper at Lipsy, Posh and the PJz collection because she thinks they have a bigger selection and a wider variety of clothes.

She had never worked out in her life prior to the earthquake, when she was out of the house from 8 am till 8 pm constantly lifting heavy things. Even though she lost about 5 kgs, she realized she needed to make some lifestyle changes and started doing 30 minutes of Yoga every day. She recommends 30 minutes of any type of exercise to get fit and to keep your weight at bay.

One of her biggest pet peeves concerning fitness are the people who claim to go to the gym regularly and yet never seem to lose any weight. She therefore feels that just working out doesn’t help unless there is a complimentary diet that is being adhered to, which is why she also has a diet plan that she sticks to. If she eats meat during the weekend, she tries to avoid it for the rest of the week. She drinks plenty of water and shies away from junk food, proud of the fact that she only has pizza every once in a while. She is a self proclaimed balanced eater who tries to have at least three to four meals every day. She has never tried the weight loss schemes that are lurking in all the dark corners of the internet. Even though she isn’t a gym person, in addition to yoga, she tries to not sit around doing nothing, keeps constantly moving, taking the stairs even when elevators and escalators are available because they help her maintain her weight.

Her wardrobe is full of skirts, tops and dresses and a certain pair of black leggings which she loves so much that she buys five at a time. Her closet is dominated by black and other dark colors because she only began experimenting with colors about a year ago. Her best find till date is a pair of cotton trousers she bought in H&M in Hong Kong. It’s stretchable, has drawstrings and is very comfortable and can be worn both in summer and winter. She says she has never seen anything even close to it here which makes it more special and close to her heart.